Sept 8th 2025 letter to Planning Commissioners PROTECT RESIDENTS FROM HARMFUL TOXICS

Letter to Planning Commissioners on validation of Toxicities of Cannabis Emissions

From: Neighborhood Coalition <sonomaneighborhoodcoalition@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, September 8, 2025 8:39 AM
To: Tim.Freeman@sonomacounty.gov;Tom.Bahning@sonomacounty.gov;Shaun.McCaffery@sonomacounty.gov;larry.reed@sonomacounty.gov; Webster.Marquez@sonomacounty.gov;PlanningAgency@sonomacounty.gov;cannabis@sonomacounty.gov
Cc: karen.Smith@sonomacounty.gov
Subject: GOAL - PROTECT RESIDENTS FROM HARMFUL TOXICS

Protecting Residents From Toxicities of Cannabis Emissions

Date: September 8, 2025

To: Planning Commissioners 

                                            All facts below have been validated by 4 independent science experts and by County Health

 FACT   Cannabis Emissions (includes odor, carcinogens) forced on neighbors violates California nuisance law:

          CCC § 3479 protects people from anything that is “injurious to health, including …. offensive to the senses, … so as to interferewith the comfortable enjoyment of life or property”.¹

FACT  Cannabis emissions produce harmful substances including multiple carcinogens²:
              B-Myrcene is listed on Prop 65, Formaldehyde, formed when Myrcene reacts with air, is listed on Prop 65, D-Limonene is a known carcinogen (National Tox Lab testing), Formic acid is also present, a potent eye and respiratory irritant

FACT  Levels above 1 PPB are toxic and carcinogenic²          

      Validated laboratory testing (Natl Tox Lab), dose adjusted for human exposure  Immediate ill effects: nausea, headache, respiratory and eye irritation, asthma Children, unborn fetuses, elderly, infirm are particularly at risk (half of Sonoma County) Carcinogenicity  is a long-term effect

FACT  Inhalation of cannabis emissions provides direct route to brain²
              No safety studies have been done on inhalation route or on children, fetuses

FACT  Cannabis emissions travel thousands of feet²
              Confirmed by quantitative scientific measurements and the DEIR

 To protect Sonoma County residents, cannabis cultivation should be limited to Indoor, with proper carbon filters (Alternative 2) If Outdoor Cultivation is to be allowed, setbacks must be at least 2500 ft for all parcels (Ag, RRD and Residential Zoning), with periodic quantitative scientific measurements required to confirm emissions don’t leave cultivation parcel.

¹   The Right to Farm laws do not apply both because cultivation of cannabis is illegal federally and the State does not classify cannabis as an agricultural crop. Local law cannot be less restrictive than State law.
² Neighborhood Coalition 2024 Myrcene Report, and August 2025 Addendum; Expert reports filed July 15, 2025

Respectfully submitted, 

Nancy and Brantly Richardson, Communication Directors

 NeighborhoodCoalition <sonomaneighborhoodcoalition@gmail.com